thumbs up
Arthur's proposed wording works for me.
Slight change in Membership, per Arthur's suggestion. I left the ability to grant a voice to protected guests with the archon on the idea that it was always a good idea to make it easier for someone to speak at the council meetings. But I reserved the right to give protected guests a vote to the council. (I also gave the council the right to give a protected guest a voice, again, just to make it easier to speak at a council meeting.) I also clarified the opening sentence. Changes are in red.
[hr][/hr]
[size=150]Membership[/size]
The covenant allows for [strike]two[/strike] three types of membership of its council, covenant representative, probationary member, and full member, and recognizes a [strike]third[/strike] fourth status, protected guest, which it offers to visitors to the covenant.
The status of Protected Guest may be extended to any person by the formal invitation of a single full member of the covenant. Protected Guests are afforded the basic rights detailed by this charter, and are not obligated to the Council of Members, nor are they a member of this council. Protected Guests may partake in meetings of the Council of Members should they desire it, but are required to leave if asked to do so by a member of that council, and are afforded no voice [strike]nor vote[/strike] unless granted such by the council or the council’s chairman, the [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon, nor any vote unless granted by the council. If the council grants a protected guest a vote, then that protected guest cannot be required to leave the council meeting save by a vote of the council. The status of Protected Guest may be revoked by the member who granted it, or by a vote of the Council of Members.
The status of Covenant Representative is extended to one non-Gifted member of the covenant selected by the non-Gifted members of the covenant in the manner of their choosing. The Covenant Representative gains no rights by this charter, save the right to be to be considered a member of the Council of Members for voting purposes only, and the right to attend and vote at meetings of the Council of Members. The Covenant Representative shall serve for seven seasons, after which time a new Covenant Representative shall be selected. The same person may serve consecutively as Covenant Representative, should the covenant members desire.
The status of Probationary Member of the Council may be extended to any magus in good standing of the Order of Hermes, who owes no allegiance nor fealty to any other covenant, and is admitted upon the unanimous approval of the current Council of Members. Provisional members assume the basic and provisional rights detailed by this charter and the duties therein attached. The status of provisional member shall last a period of seven seasons, unless abridged through censure or canceled through expulsion.
The status of Full Member of the Council is extended upon the completion of the duties and obligations of a probationary member, unless testimony is brought against him that proves him unfit to swear the Oath of Covenant in good conscience; in which case all rights of membership will be withdrawn. Should elevation to the role of full member take place, then all rights and duties of probationary membership are shed, to be replaced with the assumption of the basic and full rights detailed by this charter, and the duties therein attached. Full membership persists, unless abridged through censure or canceled through expulsion. Should a magus ever come to desire release from this covenant, he must renounce his Oath of Covenant in the presence of at least two members of the council, and shall thereby be relieved of all duties and rights, and may not call upon such rights furthermore.
I think that the mundanes working for a covenant are not really considered "members" of the covenant. After all, it is a "covenant" (contract or agreement) between magi to pool their resources and live together. So it would be more accurate to call the mundanes "employees" or "covenfolk". This avoids any confusion between the members of the Council (which are mostly magi, with a few exceptions) and the mundanes working for them.
I struggled with how to characterize the mundane representative. In the end, I elected to characterize him as a member solely for purposes of voting. That was mostly so that I wouldn't have to make a hash of the following text:
Any member of the covenant shall have the right and duty to convene the Council of Members for consideration of matters justly grave, and all members shall be charged with attendance and diligence in the proceedings. Should it not be possible to convene the full Council of Members, any quorum consisting of more than half of its current members is considered valid; else the discharge of the council’s duty must be delayed until such time as the full council may be convened. The Council of Members shall convene four times each year, one day prior to each equinox and solstice, regardless of call from any member, and all members of the covenant should endeavor to make themselves present.
Motions to be decided upon by the Council of Members must be introduced by a member; debated fully and justly, allowing those who wish to speak to do so; and then proposed for the vote. Proposals must be seconded by another member of the covenant, else no vote can take place. All issues shall be passed by a majority vote of the members there present; excepting that a censure vote requires a two-thirds majority of the Council of Members, and that the unanimous opinion of the Council of Members is required for issues involving changes to the charter; expulsion of a member; and acceptance of a new probationary member.
I could instead consider the covenant rep not a member and edit the above text as follows:
Any member of the covenant, or the covenant representative, shall have the right and duty to convene the Council of Members for consideration of matters justly grave, and all members, as well as the covenant representative, shall be charged with attendance and diligence in the proceedings. Should it not be possible to convene the full Council of Members, any quorum consisting of more than half the sum of of its current members plus the covenant representative is considered valid; else the discharge of the council’s duty must be delayed until such time as the full council may be convened. The Council of Members shall convene four times each year, one day prior to each equinox and solstice, regardless of call from any member or the covenant representative, and all members of the covenant, as well as the covenant representative, should endeavor to make themselves present.
Motions to be decided upon by the Council of Members must be introduced by a member or the covenant representative; debated fully and justly, allowing those who wish to speak to do so; and then proposed for the vote. Proposals must be seconded by another member of the covenant or the covenant representative, else no vote can take place. All issues shall be passed by a majority vote of the members there present plus the covenant representative; excepting that a censure vote requires a two-thirds majority of the Council of Members, and that the unanimous opinion of the Council of Members is required for issues involving changes to the charter; expulsion of a member; and acceptance of a new probationary member.
It seemed easier to consider the covenant rep a member of the covenant for voting purposes. But if people prefer the more clear-cut definition of member to exclude anyone not a magus, then I can easily go with the above text.
In fact, as I read it, the above text isn't that bad. I always did feel a bit funny about calling a non-magus a 'member,' even if only for voting purposes.
The representative could be a member of the Council without being a member of the covenant. As such, he would have a voice and a vote on the council, but have none of the other rights and responsibilities that members of the covenant have.
To avoid confusion, we could call a member of the Council a ritor (speaker or orator).
That would give the following text in the Charter:
The members of the covenant are the magi who sign this Charter. The Council is composed of all the members of the covenant, plus the covenant representative. Members of the Council bear the title of ritor. Any member of the covenant shall have the right and duty to convene the Council for consideration of matters justly grave, and the ritores should attend and follow the poroceedings with diligence. Should it not be possible to convene the full Council, any quorum consisting of more than half of the current ritores; else the discharge of the Council’s duty must be delayed until such time as the full council may be convened. The Council shall convene four times each year, one day prior to each equinox and solstice, regardless of call from any member, and all ritores should endeavor to make themselves present.
Motions to be decided upon by the Council must be introduced by a ritor; debated fully and justly, allowing those who wish to speak to do so; and then proposed for the vote. Proposals must be seconded by another ritor, else no vote can take place. All issues shall be passed by a simple majority vote of the ritores present, except for the following situations. A vote of censure shall require a two-thirds majority vote. Changes to the Charter shall require an unanimous vote of the members of the covenant, as shall the expulsion of a member and the acceptance of a new probationary member.
That's just a draft, so feel free to make additional changes... 
That's an elegant solution.
I think I have the final charter completed. I've tried to include all the changes we've talked about. Please let me know if I've missed any.
[size=150]Membership[/size]
The covenant allows for two types of members, probationary member and full member, and recognizes a third status, protected guest, which it offers to visitors to the covenant.
The status of Protected Guest may be extended to any person by the formal invitation of a single full member of the covenant. Protected Guests are afforded the basic rights detailed by this charter, and are not obligated to the Council of Members, nor are they a member of this council. Protected Guests may partake in meetings of the Council of Members should they desire it, but are required to leave if asked to do so by a member of that council, and are afforded no voice unless granted such by the council or the council’s chairman, the archon, nor any vote unless granted by the council. If the council grants a protected guest a vote, then that protected guest cannot be required to leave the council meeting save by a vote of the council. The status of Protected Guest may be revoked by the member who granted it, or by a vote of the Council of Members.
The status of Probationary Member of the Covenant may be extended to any magus in good standing of the Order of Hermes, who owes no allegiance nor fealty to any other covenant, and is admitted upon the unanimous approval of the current Council of Members. Provisional members assume the basic and provisional rights detailed by this charter and the duties therein attached. The status of provisional member shall last a period of seven seasons, unless abridged through censure or canceled through expulsion.
The status of Full Member of the Covenant is extended upon the completion of the duties and obligations of a probationary member, unless testimony is brought against him that proves him unfit to swear the Oath of Covenant in good conscience; in which case all rights of membership will be withdrawn. Should elevation to the role of full member take place, then all rights and duties of probationary membership are shed, to be replaced with the assumption of the basic and full rights detailed by this charter, and the duties therein attached. Full membership persists, unless abridged through censure or canceled through expulsion. Should a magus ever come to desire release from this covenant, he must renounce his Oath of Covenant in the presence of at least two members of the council, and shall thereby be relieved of all duties and rights, and may not call upon such rights furthermore.
[size=150]Governance of this Covenant[/size]
The members of the covenant are the probationary and full members of the covenant who sign this Charter. The Council is composed of all the members of the covenant, plus the covenant representative. Members of the Council bear the title of ritor. Any member of the covenant shall have the right and duty to convene the Council for consideration of matters justly grave, and the ritores should attend and follow the proceedings with diligence. Should it not be possible to convene the full Council, any quorum consisting of more than half of the current ritores is considered valid; else the discharge of the Council’s duty must be delayed until such time as the full council may be convened. The Council shall convene four times each year, one day prior to each equinox and solstice, regardless of call from any member, and all ritores should endeavor to make themselves present.
Motions to be decided upon by the Council must be introduced by a ritor; debated fully and justly, allowing those who wish to speak to do so; and then proposed for the vote. Proposals must be seconded by another ritor, else no vote can take place. All issues shall be passed by a simple majority vote of the ritores present, except for the following situations. A vote of censure shall require a two-thirds majority vote. Changes to the Charter shall require a unanimous vote of the members of the covenant, as shall the expulsion of a member and the acceptance of a new probationary member.
The patron of this covenant, Charmion the water nymph, shall be permitted to attend all council meetings, and shall wield a veto on all votes pertaining to the fresh-water spring located on the grounds of the covenant. She shall otherwise have no right to cast a vote in the Council of Members, nor shall she be considered a member of the Council of Members.
The Council of Members shall confer the office of archon to the representative of the covenant in matters of governance and temporal concern. The title of archon is a duty of each and every full member of the covenant; this position is cyclical and mandatory, with the responsibility rotating in sequence of Hermetic seniority amongst the full members of the council. Each archon serves for a period of seven years, commencing one year following the meeting of the Theban Tribunal. The duties of the archon are: to attend regular meetings of the council; to keep order at meetings; to break tied votes with a discretionary casting vote; to determine the yearly surplus of provision and store; and to act as a spokesman for the Council of Members. The archon shall not be empowered to rule on matters on the covenant’s behalf, but instead is charged with ensuring that the rulings of the Council of Members are enacted.
At the first meeting of the Council of Members after the formal meeting of the Theban Tribunal, the Council of Members shall appoint one member to take the office of bibliothekarios and one member to take the office of tamias. The bibliothekarios and tamias shall each hold office until the first meeting of the Council of Members after the next formal meeting of the Theban Tribunal.
The bibliothekarios is charged with the duty to manage and maintain the covenant's library. This includes the trade and acquisition of texts, maintaining and improving the quality and condition of texts, ensuring that the covenant is adequately supplied with scribal materials, and that the covenant is adequately staffed in these regards.
The tamais is responsible for the accounting and management of the covenant's mundane and Hermetic wealth, in terms of liquid and real mundane cash assets, and mystical wealth such as supply and stores of vis and magical ingredients and equipment for lab activities.
[size=150]Resources Owned by this Covenant[/size]
Resources of this covenant are held in common by the Members of the Covenant, and it is the responsibility of this council to maintain and defend them.
This covenant lays claim to all the vis originating from undisputed and unclaimed sources discovered by members of the council; save for the first harvest of a new vis source, which belongs to the finder or finders. This covenant also lays claim to any vis gifted to the Council of Members as a whole. In all other situations, undisputed and unclaimed vis belongs to the finder or finders.
This covenant lays claim to all books obtained by members of the council while acting at the behest of the council, and all books scribed by members of the council where payment was received for this scribing from the covenant’s resources. This covenant also lays claim to any texts gifted to the Council of Members as a whole.
This council lays claim to all magical items obtained by members of the council while acting at the behest of the council; and all magical items made by members of the council where payment was received for this manufacture from the covenant’s resources. This covenant also lays claim to any magical items gifted to the Council of Members as a whole.
This council lays claim to all monies generated using the resources of the covenant. This council also lays claim to all monies obtained by members of the council while acting at the behest of the council. This covenant also lays claim to any monies gifted to the Council of Members as a whole. This council lays claim to the buildings, defenses, chattels, and inhabitants of the covenant. This council also lays claim to any such buildings, defenses, chattels, and inhabitants gifted to the Council of Members as a whole.
Surplus resources of the covenant will be determined at the Winter meeting of the Council of Members. Resources necessary for the continued existence of the covenant and the protection of its members’ rights are accounted for first; this includes payment for seasons of work performed on behalf of the covenant, raw vis needed for the casting of the Aegis of the Hearth and other spells required to sustain the covenant, the silver salary paid to members for the upkeep of their laboratory, and the silver needed to maintain the covenant's mundane resources. Contributions to all debts owed by the covenant and contributions to a covenant reserve are decided by the Council and set aside by the tamias. The remaining resources are deemed surplus and shall be allocated as deemed reasonable by the Council to satisfy the requests of members.
[size=150]Rights of the Members of this Covenant[/size]
Each and every member of this covenant and protected guests shall be entitled to the basic rights of the covenant; to whit, full and unrestricted access to the protection and support of the covenant within the boundaries of the covenant by all the rights and benefits accorded by the Code of Hermes, the benefit of a sanctum which shall remain inviolate and the supply of materials thereof, access to the library of the covenant, and victuals appropriate to the status of a magus. These basic rights shall not be abridged except by expulsion from the Council of Members.
In furtherance and additional to the basic rights, a full member of the covenant shall be entitled to the full rights of the covenant; to whit, the right to presence and a vote in the Council of Members, which he shall exercise dutifully with due prudence. Further, full and unrestricted access to the services and skills of the servants and covenfolk. Further, a salary of six pounds of silver per year, less the amount required for the annual upkeep of the full member’s laboratory, to be paid no later than the autumn solstice of that year. Further, an equal right to all surplus provision and store necessary to conduct his studies, or the travel demanded by those studies; such rights to include (but be not limited to) vis, monies, and diverse magical and mundane resources claimed by the covenant. Where a conflict is evident between members of the covenant over the allotment of surplus resource, distribution is drawn by ballot; excepting that priority claims that have been advanced and agreed by the archon are taken into consideration prior to the ballot. These rights shall not be abridged except by decision of the council under conditions of grave concern.
In furtherance and additional to the basic rights of a member of this covenant, a probationary member of the covenant is entitled the probationary rights of the covenant; to whit, a fractional share of those rights and duties offered to a full member of the covenant, such share being equal to half that offered to full members. A probationary member’s vote counts only half of that of a full member, they receive a silver salary of three pounds of silver per year, less the amount required for the annual upkeep of their laboratory, and they may only claim half the share of the surplus provision and store of the covenant’s resources afforded a full member. The services and skills of the servants and covenfolk may not be halved, but the needs of a full member of the covenant take precedence over the needs of a probationary member. Further, a probationary member of the covenant who remains true to his Oath of Covenant has the right to remain at the covenant for a total of seven seasons following the conferral of this status. Further, a probationary member of the covenant has the right to be considered for full membership of this covenant after serving a total of seven seasons as a probationary member. These rights shall not be abridged except by decision of the council under conditions of grave concern.
[size=150]
Responsibilities of the Members of this Covenant[/size]
Members of this covenant are obligated to obey the Oath of Hermes and the Peripheral Code, as demanded by the Oath of Covenant; failure on this account will not be tolerated by the Council of Members, and the covenant reserves the right to censure those members who are convicted in just Tribunal of an offense against the Order of Hermes.
The responsibility of the members of this covenant towards its lasting success is dependent on service to the covenant. The Council of Members will declare the duties that need to be performed at the regular meetings of the covenant. Such duties include (but are not limited to) the safeguarding and harvesting of the covenant’s claimed vis sources, the safeguarding and harvesting of the covenant’s income, the wellbeing and discipline of the covenant’s employees, the maintenance of the covenant’s resources, the increase of the covenant’s resources, and the maintenance of good relations with the covenant’s allies. Duties that will not entail more than a week of service at low personal risk will be assigned by the council to its members, with no more than one being assigned to each member in each season. Such assigned duties attract no recompense or advantage to the member who discharges them, but cannot be refused without reasonable extenuation.
Duties which will entail a higher investment of time or personal risk will be offered up for service by the covenant. These services will attract a remuneration which shall be commensurate with the time, risk, and potential benefit to the covenant. This remuneration is decided by the archon, but maintains a minimum payment which shall be, for a single season of work at low risk with a low gain, four pawns of form vis, of the flavor most prevalent in the stores at the time. The archon may increase the remuneration to increase the attractiveness of a particular urgent task, for the Council of Members is not empowered to force a member to accept one of these duties unless failure to perform it would be in breach of this covenant, in which case the threat of censure may be employed. All payments will be made in the Spring meeting of the Council. If there is more than one claimant for the service, and each claimant refuses to share the duty, then the archon will assign the duty by ballot. If there is insufficient vis to meet the demands of the council, the archon may withhold payment for one or more years. Covenant work may be declared such retroactively.
Each full member shall owe the covenant two full seasons of work every seven years, the seven-year time period beginning and ending with subsequent meetings of the Thebes Tribunal. A full season of work may include copying laboratory texts for the covenant library, writing a summa or tractus for inclusion in the covenant library, performing laboratory experiments at the request of the Council of Members, performing the crafting of a magic item at the request of the Council of Members, or any seasonal task that the Council of Members deems appropriate. For this mandatory service, no payment need be offered by the Council of Members.
Each probationary member of the covenant is obligated to perform no fewer than two full seasons of work during his period of probation. For this mandatory service, no payment need be offered by the Council of Members.
[size=150]Censure of the Members of this Covenant[/size]
If a member should contravene the decisions of the council, by vote or by charter, then the member may be censured or expelled by a vote of the Council of Members.
Censure requires the passing of a motion at a meeting of the Council of Members. This censure motion shall only pass with a two-thirds majority of the total magi of the covenant, excluding the accused member. The censure of a full member revokes the rights of that status, returning him to probationary status; whereupon he assumes all the duties and rights of that status. Censure must not prejudice the application of a probationary member to the position of full member of the covenant. The censure of a probationary member shall abridge the rights of the member to remain a probationary member of the covenant, and shall confer upon him instead the status of Protected Guest. The status of a Protected Guest may be withdrawn at any time by a vote of the Council of Members without need for censure.
Expulsion is enacted by a unanimous vote of the remaining Members of the Covenant. Expulsion is the only means through which a member of the covenant shall lose his basic rights; and requires that the former member ceases to draw upon those basic rights subsequent to the first full moon after expulsion was enacted. Should a magus be cast out from the Order, it is the duty and obligation of this covenant that he shall also and without delay be expelled from this covenant.
This wording implies that all members must approve of a candidate, not simply those present at the meeting. Which means that, should a member go missing, no new member could be accepted. Perhaps a small change here might help avoid ambiguity?
I would suggest: "The status of Probationary Member of the Covenant may be extended to any magus in good standing of the Order of Hermes, who owes no allegiance nor fealty to any other covenant[strike], and is admitted upon the unanimous approval of the current Council of Members[/strike]. To become a Probationary Member, the magus must petition the Council of Members at the Winter Solstice meeting and receive unanimous approval of the Full Members present at that meeting."
I almost suggested the Spring meeting, because it represents rebirth and growth of the covenant, but it is better to have a single meeting for all the important stuff, so I went with Winter instead. A magus who would arrive after the meeting when petitions are accepted could simply have the status of Protected Guest until the next such meeting, when they could petition the council for admittance as a probationary member. I specified that it is only the Full Members that get to vote, but we could decide that all members present (both full and probationary) get a say in admitting new members.
What would happen if, say, half the members of the council were to die or be unavailable for a long period of time? Would it become impossible to convene a meeting of the council? Perhaps we could simply state that the Winter meeting is considered valid no matter how many members are present.
All members, or just full members? If we allow probationary members to vote on expulsion, we could see a situation where only a single full member is in attendance, and is expulsed by probationary members.
I would avoid the term "representative" here, as we have the covenant representative as a mundane. This creates confusion. I suggest restating it as: "The Council of Members shall confer the office of archon to one of its members[strike]to the representative of the covenant in[/strike], to act in its stead all matters of governance and temporal concern."
What happens if the archon is not present at a meeting of the Council? After all, his duties include keeping order during the meetings and breaking tied votes, amongst others.
We are granting unlimited acces to the library to protected guests? That includes the exceptional book, after all, something that we expect magi to pay for. So I think the library should be excluded from the basic rights and moved to members' rights.
Gah! None of this was new wording. But I suppose it's not a surprise that a fresh reading would raise new issues.
That sounds good to me.
That was language that you proposed adding! 
One thing I'd be concerned about is if, say, most of the covenant was stuck on an adventure when a meeting came up (It could happen), and couldn't make the meeting. I wouldn't want two council members to be able to run the show and push things through with only two votes. Frankly, if more than half the members of the council are repeatedly not attending meetings, then the covenant has more to worry about than just whether it can have meetings.
As for members dying, I would assume that once they were dead, they would no longer be considered members of the covenant, and wouldn't count for quorum purposes.
The expulsion vote requires unanimity of "the members of the covenant," not "the members of the covenant in attendance." If any member was absent, then the vote could never be unanimous. Yes, expulsion votes are very, very hard.
I have no trouble with that.
I guess we have a rowdy meeting ...
Honestly, I suspect that if the archon couldn't make it, the council as a whole would probably defer to the senior magus there to keep order and run the meeting. No one would have the power to break ties. But at least the meeting could progress.
I'm fine with that. You make a good point about the exceptional book.
It does say "access" and not "unrestricted access." But I have no problem taking even unrestricted access away as a guaranteed right and saying it's on a case-by-case basis.
Indeed. I had not taken the time for a detailed reading before. Sorry about that. 
Indeed it was. That's what I get for putting together clauses quickly without thinking them through and looking for loopholes. 
I'm not so much worrying about magi ding or deciding not to show up for meetings, as them being detained in some way for a long period of time. There are many ways this could happen -- faerie regio, bad Twilight experience, a prolonged trip, being captured, etc. Not all the magi would need to be away for the same reason. Or simply disappearing without us knowing that they're dead or in Twilight, or simply gone. OOC this could be because the player is no longer there. Would we be ok having covenant business screeching to a halt in such cases?
I know this is something unlikely to happen, so we could decide to ignore the issue.
Actually, they almost become impossible. It only takes a single magus not being present, or one player being no-show for a while, and nothing can be done about bad apples.
Again, we can decide to ignore this. It's not a clause that we want to have to use anyway, as players.
That would be the best way to handle this, as it leaves the Council in control of how much of the library to make available to a guest, and under what conditions.
A thought here- what about a category "members in absentia" for those whose condition vis a vis mortality is uncertain?
The biggest problem that I can see is figuring out who would get to decide who was "in absentia" and who just plain missed a meeting.
Then again, we could add a paragraph such as the following:
If a ritor misses four council meetings in a row, the council may declare that ritor to be a "ritor en apousía." A ritor en apousía does not count as a ritor or a member of the covenant for purposes of quorum, votes to approve probationary members, censure votes, expulsion votes, or votes to amend the charter. The status en apousía is immediately removed as soon as the absent ritor attends a council meeting.
This would allow us to address magi who go missing, enter Twilight, etc.
This would also allow us to address players that disappear. We can just assume they stopped coming to meetings, and declare them en apousía. (I used the Greek, since we're in Thebes.)
Amended Rights for your review:
[size=150]Rights of the Members of this Covenant[/size]
Each and every member of this covenant and protected guests shall be entitled to the basic rights of the covenant; to whit, full and unrestricted access to the protection and support of the covenant within the boundaries of the covenant by all the rights and benefits accorded by the Code of Hermes, the benefit of a sanctum which shall remain inviolate and the supply of materials thereof, [strike]access to the library of the covenant,[/strike] and victuals appropriate to the status of a magus. These basic rights shall not be abridged except by expulsion from the Council of Members, or by the removal of protected guest status.
In furtherance and additional to the basic rights, a full member of the covenant shall be entitled to the full rights of the covenant; to whit, the right to presence and a vote in the Council of Members, which he shall exercise dutifully with due prudence. Further, full and unrestricted access to the library of the covenant. Further, full and unrestricted access to the services and skills of the servants and covenfolk. Further, a salary of six pounds of silver per year, less the amount required for the annual upkeep of the full member’s laboratory, to be paid no later than the autumn solstice of that year. Further, an equal right to all surplus provision and store necessary to conduct his studies, or the travel demanded by those studies; such rights to include (but be not limited to) vis, monies, and diverse magical and mundane resources claimed by the covenant. Where a conflict is evident between members of the covenant over the allotment of surplus resource, distribution is drawn by ballot; excepting that priority claims that have been advanced and agreed by the archon are taken into consideration prior to the ballot. These rights shall not be abridged except by decision of the council under conditions of grave concern.
In furtherance and additional to the basic rights of a member of this covenant, a probationary member of the covenant is entitled the probationary rights of the covenant; to whit, a fractional share of those rights and duties offered to a full member of the covenant, such share being equal to half that offered to full members. A probationary member’s vote counts only half of that of a full member, they receive a silver salary of three pounds of silver per year, less the amount required for the annual upkeep of their laboratory, and they may only claim half the share of the surplus provision and store of the covenant’s resources afforded a full member. The access to the library, and the services and skills of the servants and covenfolk may not be halved, but the needs of a full member of the covenant take precedence over the needs of a probationary member. Further, a probationary member of the covenant who remains true to his Oath of Covenant has the right to remain at the covenant for a total of seven seasons following the conferral of this status. Further, a probationary member of the covenant has the right to be considered for full membership of this covenant after serving a total of seven seasons as a probationary member. These rights shall not be abridged except by decision of the council under conditions of grave concern.
Good for me. 
It occurs to me that right now we have a lot of reference to the oath of the covenant, but no actual oath.
Here's a sample Oath: